Playing Dress-Up: Suzy Bishop

1. Vintage binoculars on Etsy $25-$250 // 2.Tara Jarmon peter-pan collar dress $460 // 3. Cicada earrings on Etsy $25 // 4. MAC eyeshadow in Aquadisiac $15 // 5. Vintage tackle basket on Etsy $50 // 6. Portable record player on Etsy $70-$300 // 7. Jeffrey Campbell saddle shoes $115 // 8. Falke London knee socks $24 // 9. Vintage books and handwritten love letters on Etsy $5-$35

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This is probably going to be my Halloween costume this year! Not surprising, right? I'm just so thrilled to have another Wes Anderson female character to emulate. I've wanted to re-do Margot since I embodied her several years ago, but recycling ideas seemed cheap, especially for a Halloween über-enthusiast like me. 

So yea, Suzy! 

 

{ scene from Moonrise Kingdom }

Of course, I will find a way to MacGyver most of it and keep my budget to a minimum. I'll scour Value Village over the next couple of weeks, and maybe pick up the odd Etsy item to round it out. 

Hubby is obvi going as my pre-teen love-interest, Sam Shakusky. It will involve a hearty face-shave (i'm nervous). We both get to pretend to be 13 again. Pretty cute, since we were 13 when we first met on a yellow school bus.

Photos coming soon!

p.s. I even curated a little Etsy treasury for more great Wes Anderson costume inspiration!

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Additional image credits: Collage by me, Portable record player via Ubiquity Records, Cicada Earrings via The Village Idiot, Binoculars via Bruneau vs Bennett

New Orleans Style – Part 1

This post is easily 3 weeks in the making. I just can't seem to make time for blogging lately. Ugh. Life. I'm traveling for work in a week and am thrilled that this particular trade show just happens to be located in New Orleans this year. Oh em geeeeee! There are so many pockets of the earth that I've yet to explore, and I'm thankful to get to see at least a little BIT of the world on the company dime. We have plenty of chill-time on this trip, too. Stoked!

So you know I love playing dress-up, yeah? Halloween trumps Christmas in my world. Themes FTW! And since I was somehow terribly ill-equipped wardrobe-wise for Vegas, I'm planning ahead. Dressing the part is a little less straightforward this time around. Vegas = short dresses + tall shoes + glitta, dahhling. Easy (though I failed). But Louisiana? Aside from wearing as little as possible (have you checked out this WEATHER?!), I need to do some investigating on appropriate/thematic style. Of course, this is all just me being a weird-o ("quirky", right?) - any city infected with H&M-itis will likely look relatively every other city suffering from the same, but I'd like to believe there's a hint of unique flavour wherever I travel.

For funsies, I decided to challenge myself with a colour palette. What better hue scheme than one inspired by Mardi Gras? We won't be in Nawlins for the event, sadly. The official colours - kelly green, bright yellow, rich purple - are difficult to cram into one outfit, but if anyone can do it, it's me. I intentionally try to incorporate as many colours as possible into my style-world. I'm hell-bent on abolishing matchy-matchy. Today I'm wearing two pink things, though, and it's killin' me (it's the dog's fault – don't ask). I'm not literally going for a Mardi Gras theme as I shop/pack for the trip, but I'm writing this as a fun exercise.

In Part 2 of this post (coming soon!), I will focus on space-saving packing with smart mix-in-match pieces and my must-haves for hot-hot weather. Basically, my REAL non-fantasy-dress-up travel style post. But for now, let's have fun with this theme. 

The two outfits above, deconstructed, plus some extra Mardi-Gras-esque goodies:

 

Larkspur and Hawk $1300 // Fulton $95

ModCloth.com // Stylebop.com

 

 LPCollection.com $225 // Dorothy Perkins $17

 farfetch.com $500 // Debenhams.com $95

 

J Crew "Minnie" pants $103 each

 luluguiness.com $495 // Marc by Marc Jacobs $420

 Karen Millen // ModCloth.com

 Steve Madden // Madewell

 oasis.com $100 each

p.s. Archie jumped up on the table and stood on the keyboard when I left the room. This was his contribution to the post: wssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

l'halloween!

We can't disappoint. Not now. Not after 6 years of blood-sweat-and-hot-glue costume-making.

My mother says she knew Alex was "the one" when he agreed to be hauled half way across town to a costume party. In May. Several months yet until Halloween. After only 2 months of dating. Surely a boy with this much enthusiasm for playing dress-up was meant for me. Match! Made! In! Heaven!

We even discovered that we had both painstakingly (and separately) recreated separate characters from The Royal Tenenbaums on the same Halloween BEFORE WE EVEN MET (ahem, the second/adult time). That year I cut seven whole inches off my (then blonde) hair mere minutes before a party and smoked half a pack of cigarettes (I was a non-smoker) so as to be unfailingly Margot.

He already had the hair. And the sad eyes. A perfect Richie. Or so I'm led to believe. Without proper photographic evidence, I can only speculate.

Knowing his dedication to Halloween (he's a purist), I'd betcha he was spot on.

Maybe we'd have (re)met this way, instead of via a fated newspaper photo:

Perfect.

But ever since we did meet (against not quite as heartbreaking a soundtrack) we planned out our costumes each summer, scouring thrift shops, trimming wigs, sewing faux fur, and hot-gluing 1000s of sequins late into the fall. We earned ourselves a nice little reputation for our costumes. A retrospective:

2006: Black & White (yep, this is a full-colour un-touched photo!) 

2007 Pan + Hook

2008 Mr. Tumnus + The White Witch

2009 - Fisherman + Lunch

2010 Katy + Russell

This year, however, we somehow lost our spirit. It was just days before the big day when I decided: NO, we can't skip Halloween. What? Us? No. So we decided on a costume that would be simple, require no sewing, gluing, or epic shopping trips. Our costumes cost $15 each and only required a little planning and painting. Cheap, yes. Simple, sure.

But yeah, 2 days of straight painting due to the unexpected transparency of the cheap craft acrylic. Sigh.

We have a penchant for self-torture. How very appropriate. I think, in the end, we were glad we didn't snub best-day-of-the-year. The result was pretty cool:

 

 

Maybe next year we'll just buy big gorilla masks.

Yeah... no. I may or may not have a few ideas up my sleeve for next year. Easy this time. Really.

Keep Calm.

So you know I love playing dress-up, hey?

But I also like being prepared. Like, planning Halloween costumes in the Spring (OMG, IT'S AUGUST AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M BEING!!!!! AHHH!).

Ahem. So yeah, my commitment to attend Fake Prom Goes To War went forgotten for a few weeks, until I realized this Monday that I need a costume for this Friday! Uh-oh. I take costumes very seriously. With only 3 days to spare (and a pretty packed week), I'm scrambling to find awesomeness in my tickle trunk (um, Rubbermaid costume bin) and my fruitful, high-yielding closet.

My pops was in the air force for 30 years + and I'm sure he'd have some awesome artifacts hanging about. But he's in Ottawa. I didn't plan this right.

It's in my blood on both sides, actually:

Grandma (Dad's side)


Popsy. (Mom's side)

So, I should have this in the bag.... But what version of wartime-chic should I emulate? Pin-up babe? Sexy fighter pilot? Wizard of Oz Soldier Monkey? War nurse? Mourning war widow?


If money and time were no object (which they are) these are some awesome options:

army-green corset, elizabeth and james $255


Think Sgt. Pepper. Alexander McQueen $1335 (*gulp*)

Ammo. Biko $69

Plane-jumpin' pants. marlene birger $100



Waiting for the baby boom. ModCloth.com


Serious hardware. ash $170

Recognition. ModCloth $17


Sea Legs. Biko $75

Alas, I am (nearly) penniless and just about out of closet room anyway. So I'll make do with what I have...

Ophelie military inspired chapeau. A must.



J.Crew cargo pants. OK, obvious?



Or, Club Monaco Fleur de Lis skirt. A Stretch?



Distressed Wilfred bustier top. Good, solid wartime underthings.



Vintage chain brooch ("war decoration"):





Biko Kaleidoscope (spyglass!) necklace. Not as perfect at Corrine's anchor or bullet necklaces, but it'll do.

OK, I can do this, right? It'll be a bit of a hodge-podge hybrid, but totally doable with just my closet. Just need to top it all off with some good temp tattoos (I heart mom!), maybe a dash of camo and a good dose of discipline.